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The Christian Maginot Line

In 1929, the French government began work on what
would become known as the Maginot Line. It was a series of forts built largely
underground in mutual protection of each other and was designed to deter their
long-time enemy, Germany, from repeating their invasion of World War One into
French territory. For the years leading up to their defeat early in World War
Two, the French armed forces had planned on a war fought much like World War
One. As a Christian, it is easy to fall into the same trap. So many times we
are told to learn from the past in order to prepare for the future. This theory
exists on the fact that, by knowing the style of Satan, we can understand how
he will attack. I would submit, however, that by looking for the last attack of
Satan, we could be, just as the French army, setting ourselves up for the next.

I am not, by any means, stating that one cannot
learn from the past. The past shows weaknesses that can be exploited by our
enemy. Our past shows us particular people that “push our buttons,” or
situations that cause us to easily come to the boiling point, and areas within
our own lives that have a need for improvement. On one scale, the French had learned
from their past with the building on the Maginot Line. They learned that a
sustained attack by troops engaged in trench warfare could be devastating and
thus built the string of forts to provide overlapping protection for troops
while fighting the previous style of war. The German army, however, had spent
its time building powerful tanks that ran around the Maginot Line and defeated
what modern army the French had, just as Satan is often able to defeat
Christians, even when they work hard to correct past mistakes and learn from
previous Satanic attacks.

The problem with relying on past mistakes to prepare
for future battle is that the enemy, in our case Satan (Ephesians 6:12), often
attacks in new ways the next time, even if against the previous weaknesses.
Without awareness and alertness in our lives, our fight with the devil is that
much harder. He has a number of weapons to use against each and every
Christian, and yet we rely on only learning from our past to confront him.
While it is important, it is by far not the only variable in the equation.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan walks around as a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The Bible says that we must be alert.
Why? Because he is! If we are going to defeat Satan (and our fleshly lusts), we
must look forward to his possible attacks, not only his past ones. The Bible
constantly alerts Christians to be on their guard against the wiles of the
wicked.

Part of being alert requires us to watch for certain
situations that can lead to a fight with our enemy. Ancient Chinese generals once
taught that one should look out when a flock of birds suddenly takes to flight,
for it means that an enemy is setting an ambush. Christians would do well to
see the wisdom in this warning. I often find myself realizing, in hindsight,
that there were places during my temptation wherein I should have realized
Satan’s plan of attack. Because I failed to remain alert, I failed to protect
myself. The comparing of Satan to a lion is a particularly important one. All
cats hunt with a silent, skillful process that sometimes involves setting an
ambush for passing prey. Can we not expect Satan to do the same to us?

I do not mean that we can, if we heed Peter’s
warning, protect ourselves alone without God. In fact, if we expect to be
prepared, we must be in communion with God. After we are told about our enemy
in Ephesians 6:12, and then about our armor in verses 13-17, we are told to
pray in verse 18. Paul uses prayer practically as part of the armor of a
Christian warrior! It is vital to have constant communication with our commander,
God, who can direct our paths and lead us away from or through traps.

The French army learned quickly in World War Two
that they could not merely rely on learning from past attacks in order to
protect them from future ones. They failed to be on the alert when Germany
began building fast and formidable tanks. As Christians, we can ill afford to
rely only on past experience when dealing with Satan. Instead, we need to pair
our past experience with alertness to our
surroundings and look to the future.

2 comments:

boilt frog
said...

http://archive.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind26.html

You may find this short article interesting. It fits well with your analysis of Satan's evolving tactics and the Christians' hidebound defense. Lind does not discuss 5th generation warfare. It is scary.